Compressed gas pistol



Nov. 15, 1955 B. AND|NA 2,723,656

COMPRESSED GAS PISTOL Filed July 2, 1952 I .9 9 1 I I V N m 2- o N (U o- P w Attorneys United States Patent- COMPRESSED GAS PISTOL Boris Andiua, Milan, Italy Application July 2 1952, Serial No. 296,877 Claims priority, application Italy July is, 1951 3 Claims. Cl. 124-11 The present invention relates to an air or other compressed gas pistol, which although being advantageously useful also for out of door shooting, is especially adapted for under water shooting.

According to the invention the pistol is provided with a reservoir of air under pressure located in its body and which is normally closed by a valve against the front end of which engages the rod-shaped projectile introduced into the weapon from the barrel. The pistol is so constructed that to open the valve in order to cause the gas under pressure to enter a pressure chamber behind the rod-shaped projectile and thus to let it act upon the latter, the said rod-shaped projectile when it is introduced into the barrel serves to push back the stem of the valve rendering said chamber at the same time pressure tight, this rod-shaped projectile being on the other hand so shaped as to hook even indirectly to the trigger of the pistol upon being introduced thereinto, and to be consequently freed from the trigger for being ejected when the trigger is pulled for shooting.

According to a further feature of the invention, in order to increase the shooting efficiency of the pistol, especially when it has to be used for subaqueous shooting, the rod-shaped projectile can have a longitudinal cavity, closed at the front and formed at the rear as a reaction tube.

Due to this arrangement, upon the opening of the valve in the reservoir, the cavity in the rod-shaped projectile fills with gas under pressure, which escapes therefrom after the freeing of the projectile and adds to the thrust effect produced by the compressed gas upon said projectile an efiect of reactive propulsion.

Further particulars and features of the object of the invention will appear from the following description of embodiments of the invention, illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of one embodiment of the pistol according to the invention;

Fig. 2 shows a section of the pistol along line A--A of Fig. 1, in which section in addition to the pressure chamber an auxiliary regulating chamber, that may also not be provided, has been added.

According to Fig. 1, to the front of the reservoir 1 of gas under pressure, preferably air, is screwed body 2 of valve 3, on which, in its turn, is screwed body 4 of the hand grip 5, inside of which bushing 6 holding barrel 7 is kept in place by a nut 8 screwed onto body 4. The gas-tightness of the pressure chamber 9 inside of body 4 is ensured by a gasket 10 interposed between bushing 6 and a ring 11 resting upon an inner flange 12 of body 4. Valve 3 is under the action of a spring 13 tending to keep it pushed forward in closing position and stem 14, provided with an axial hole 15, from which branch out toward the rear cross holes 16, has at its front a head 17 designed to limit the rearward stroke in the direction of the opening of the valve of said stem by striking against body 2. On the hand grip 5 is fulcrurned at 18 a trigger 19, subjected to a spring 20 tending to keep it at rest.

2,723,656 Patented Nov. 15, 1955 2 The rod-shaped projectile21 is introduced into the barrel from the front end and is so shaped at its rear part as to hook to trigger 19 whenthe projectile reaches the position shown in Fig. 1, in which it pushes back stem 14, opening thus valve 3. In such a position of stem 14 and valve 3 it is suflicient to act on trigger 19 to disengage the rod-shaped projectile 21 so that the air under pressure, which has flowed into chamber 9 through holes 16 and 15 of the stem 14, will eject the projectile from barrel 7, while valve 3 under the action of spring 13 closes. As a safety for immobilizing trigger 19, cam22 is provided.

In the embodiment .of Fig. 1,,the rod-shaped projectile 21 is provided with an axial cavity 23 closed at the front and ending at the rear with a reaction tube 24. Due to the cavity thus formed in projectile 21, upon the shooting of the latter the elfect of reaction of the air under pressure entered into cavity 23 and issuing from tube 24 cooperates with the ejection of the projectile from the pistol.

In the section of Fig. 2, to the pressure chamber has been added an auxiliary regulating chamber 25 communicating therewith through valve 26, which can at will, be opened more or less or remain in closed position for modifying the volume of the pressure chamber 9 and therefore the action exerted by the air under pressure upon the projectile.

It appears clear that the invention is not limited to the embodiments shown in the drawing and above described, but the pistol can vary in many ways in its constructional details, still remaining within the scope of the invention.

Thus, for instance, valve 3 can be a ball valve, a piston or a sliding valve; gasket 10 can be of rubber only, without a metal support ring; the trigger can operate on the projectile indirectly, for example by means of a latch and the auxiliary pressure chamber can be automatically adjusted so as to compensate for the gradual reduction in pressure in the reservoir.

In any case, no matter what its practical realization will be, the pistol according to the invention has as compared with the compressed gas pistols so far known the advantage of containing in its interior an amount of gas under pressure suflicient for a great number of shots, to eflect which one needs only to introduce a projectile into the barrel.

What I claim is:

1. An underwater gun comprising a body having a pressure chamber therein, a barrel secured to one end of said body, a reservoir of gas under pressure located in the body, said body having a first passageway extending between the reservoir and said chamber and a second passageway extending between said chamber and the barrel, a valve controlling said first passageway, spring means urging said valve to a position to close said first passageway, a valve actuating stem extending from the valve into said chamber for reciprocable movement in a direction longitudinally of the barrel, and a rod-shaped projectile, adapted to be introduced into the barrel through the mouth thereof, the rear end of which is of a cross section and size to enter and close the second passageway, when it is inserted in the interior of the barrel said valve actuating stern having its end positioned to be engaged by the rear end of the projectile upon entering the-first passageway to open the valve, and trigger means for releasably retaining the projectile in the barrel in a position to hold the valve open.

2. An underwater gun according to claim 1 in which said rod-shaped projectile has a longitudinal cavity closed at the front and is provided with an opening at the rear in the shape of a reaction tube communicating with said pressure chamber.

3. An underwater gun comprising a body having a pressure chamber therein, a barrel secured to one end of said body, a reservoir of gas under pressure located in the body, said body having a first passageway extending between the reservoir and ,said chamber and a second passageway extending between said chamber and the barrel, a'valve controlling said first passageway, spring means urging said valve to a position to close said first passageway, a valve actuating stem extending from the valve into said chamber for reciprocable movement in a direction longitudinally of the barrel, and a rod-shaped projectile, the rear end of which is of a cross section and size to enter and close the second passageway, said valve actuating stem having its end positioned to be engaged by the rear end of the projectile upon entering the first passageway to open the valve, trigger means for releasably retaining the projectile inthe barrel in a position to hold the valveopen, a container carried by said body and having an auxiliary regulating chamber therein, and manually operated valve means controlling communication between the pressure chamber and the auxiliary regulating chamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

